Remember that one time...

Remember how I was going to post all these days of gratitude and stuff? Kind of didn't happen. I have learned my lesson, never commit to a blog timeline again. But trust me, it is still coming. Maybe.

Day 4: I FEEL ALIVE! (Backlog)

Let's pretend I posted this on the actual day and not 2 days later, ok?

Today I am grateful for this song:



This is Fun. That is their name, Fun., not a comment on my level of enjoyment. Check this band out, trust me, you will not regret it.

I am also grateful for friends who will go crazy, sing and dance and enjoy Fun. with me.

Day 3: She burns like the sun

Today I am grateful for sunblock. Without it, my entire body would be red, instead of just my legs from the knees down. But only on my shins. It looks awesome, trust me. I am also grateful for Melissa and her amazing pool. We are starting the Saturday Lay Out Club. Let me know if you want to join!

Day 2: It's Springtime for Vegas.

I am so grateful for the beautiful, sunny day we are having today! Perfect weather like this makes me want to drive around with the windows down, eat crunchy tacos, and listen to Sublime. It kind of also makes me want to go buy a Jeep.

P.S. - This weather also makes me miss Kaira. Love you!

Day 1: Learning to Control the Crazy. Again.

(Warning: Self-indulgent blog, lots of words. No pictures. My apologies.)

For some reason when I entered the blogging world, I felt I could only write about funny things. I had to have a funny blog. The problem with this? Sometimes in life we don't feel funny, and then we have nothing to blog about, and then our mom tells us we need to step up the blogging. Fine mom, get off my back already! My blog is going to stop being polite, and start getting real.

It's no secret that I freak out over my birthday every year. Getting older is apparently traumatic for me. Each year for 10 months I am my normal, happy, non-crazy self. And then, around the end of April, I turn into a person I don't always recognize, who does things I would never do, and says things I would never say. She is out of control! (Except I did do those things. I did say those things. Gulp.) This year I have decided to put my foot down, and put the crazy lady back in her cage. In my deep, psychoanalysis of my own brain, I came up with a few solutions, one of which is to recognize how truly blessed I am, and to have gratitude for my life. I mean, let's be honest, my life is kind of awesome. And, lucky you, you get to hear about it. For the next 15 days. (Because 30 seemed like too many.)

Today we start with the core, I am grateful I have an amazing family who feel like great friends and amazing friends who feel like they are family.

I have an amazing family. I have parents who are All Stars, who have raised me in a home filled with love, laughter, and most importantly, the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Running family joke: Walk into any LDS church, yell out "I know Dave Walker", and the response will be "He's such a nice guy!" followed by a handshake.) I have four siblings who not only do I love, but I like. And, they get my jokes (for the most part). And, I am the aunt to 4 nieces and 3 nephews, all of whom happen to worship the ground I walk on. Apparently, their parents have raised them right. Not to mention all of my extended family. I have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents who surround me and love me and support me. One thing I can never doubt, I am loved.

I have amazing friends. Life-long, soul-mate type friends. Friends who are willing to boycott Blockbuster just because I had a bad experience. Friends who are not afraid to call me out when I need it, but who support me no matter what. Friends that can carry on conversations about world events or the magical powers of unicorns with the same depth and level of enthusiasm. Friends I know I can call at 2am because I need them. And, friends who know I would do the same for them.

Probably sounds weird to say, but I am excited to be me again.

Connecticut, ahoy!

The best mirror is an old friend. Without them, I am not sure I would know myself.

On my way to Washington D.C to visit my brother and family, I was able to make a pit stop in Connecticut to visit Julie, Spencer and baby Evelyn. This was my first trip to Connecticut, but it felt like coming home. Old friends just work that way.

Julie took me to Mystic Pizza, which apparently is a real pizza place, and not just a way for Julia Roberts to jump start her career. Who knew?

In Connecticut, you can get a chocolate dipped, frozen banana. For reals.
The ever so secret "Skull and Bones" society headquarters. For a secret society, it is really poorly guarded. And, kind of not really secret.

Julie's husband is a Navy man, and works training other Navy men (aka "seamen") how to get out of a sinking submarine. Or something like that. All I know, I look really really good in the outfit. And, we stole the robe.

If you are going to try on the special orange suit, be sure to take off your Ugg boats first. Just a tip.

This is a scary, old timey scuba suit that I believe comes to life at night and perhaps kills people, but at the very least, causes trouble. No way he is nice. After taking this picture, I swear I saw him move.

Proof that he moved? His glove fell off. Gloves don't just fall off.

I took the night train from Hartford, CT to Washington DC. I figured this would be best, because then I could pop a sleeping pill and arrive in the morning all ready to go. Well, I popped the pill, but never felt like I quite got to sleep. It was uncomfortable, miserable, etc. All of a sudden, I feel someone kicking my foot and wake up to see the conductor asking for my ticket. I hand it to him, and he asks me where I am trying to go. I respond, Washington DC, in my groggy morning voice. He tells me, you are here, and you've been here for 2o minutes. You better hurry or you'll be going back with us. That is a wake up call that will get you moving.

Other than the rough wake up call, it was a perfect trip. Thank you Julie and Spencer! I'll be back...

Surviving the terrible threes...

Being three is rough. Your mom has a stroke and goes to the hospital, your brother steals your toys, it is a tough life. Being an amazing aunt, I understand this, so I decided to take a little Vance for a day in the park.

What I didn't know was that my little nephew is also an aspiring photographer. Never to crush the dreams of a child I gave him my camera and let him go to town. Below is a small sampling of his work.

At first glance, I thought this was a rock. No. Vance explained that this rock is our family, and is in our house, which I am guessing is the patch of grass. Very symbolic.

Having been shamed in my mis-interpretation of the rock, I asked what this was. He looked at me, like I was an idiot, and told me, "a tree".

Being his favorite person in the world, naturally you would assume there would be several shots of me. I think this is his best work, showing off all my best features.

My day with Vance taught me one important lesson. When life has you down, you've got to swing it away. As Vance said, "Look Tif, I'm not crying anymore!"